Caste discrimination Recently: A Reformulated version

 

Sitting in the comfort zones of our houses, most of us may be unaware of the fact that even children, in many parts of rural India, face the torments of caste discrimination. These children, from dalit communities, live in such poisoned environment where they grow up believing that they are not as privileged as other children from upper castes. These ideas are so rooted in their minds that they don’t resist any kind of discrimination towards them.

 

Dalit children wait in the background for their mid-day meals while others eat in front, at a government run primary school of village Bhagwanpura of Jalaun district. Picture courtesy: Action Aid.

Schools which are thought to be the sites of inclusive education where children from all castes communities come together and evolve as able citizens. But it is a sad fact that they are turning to be the preachers of caste discrimination.  In many rural areas in various sates dalit children are not allowed to mix with other children, they are given food in separate plates and are forced to carry their own plate so that they don’t mix with other plates. Schools are supposed to create good citizens, instead they forge and reinforce these ideas into children.

These are all very clear cases of discrimination. Lately they tend to have taken different forms. Even though reservation is believed to be able to help lower caste people come up, there may be a situation where it is not properly implemented . For instance there are reservations in many educational institutes like IITs for OBC/SC/ST students. But the fact is that they constitute a very low minority compared to others. As in 2005 out of the 22.5 percent reserved seats only 11.9 seats were filled and the numbers o very low in higher courses like MS and PhD. Even the number of Dalit professors is a grim 0.86 percent. According to a professor in the institute Dalit scholars are treated badly, they are unduly delayed, they are failed in examinations and vivas. Thanks to the intervention of some parties like Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) the situation is changing. A recent study conducted by PDK revealed that even after 41 years of its existence, there are departments  in which not even one dalit student have been admitted. The study also reported that, “almost all M.Tech and MS Students in IIT were Brahmins.” The study reported the case of a meritorious SC/ST student who got 94 percent in the board exam and got call from bits Pilani and Ranchi but chose to attend IIT Madras. He was made to take the preparatory course for Dalit students  and the worst part as that he was failed in it.

Even though the idea of caste has changed over the years it still persists in a subtle form. Recently a post in the IIT Madras Confessions page on Facebook (#446)  talks clearly about this. Even though students turn their face when someone talks about castes many are unhappy with the system of reservation. The kind of look that students have on their face when they come to know that you are a reserved candidate is humiliating. This affects the mental morale of the student. The prevalence of such kind of ideas even among the supposedly “intellectual” students is something to really worry about.

 

http://dalitsvoice.blogspot.in/2008/05/caste-in-campus.html

Caste clashes in Tamil Nadu : A Case study

Dalits , traditionally regarded as the untouchables by the upper caste community have been i against any improvements in their living conditions. They are even relinquished from their right to access public provisions like education. These kind of caste discrimination usually involves two comunities. In the case Tamil Nadu these are the Thevars( a backward class) and Pallars(dalits). And as usual the Dalits here also, have been the victims of economic and political exploitation. But recently, reaping the benefits of reservation and better public support, there have been a shift in this hegemonic dominance of the uppercaste, the Thevars in this case.

According to a report in 1996 by the Indian government for the ministry of Human Affairs, there have been an increase of 34 percent, over the past years ,in the caste clashes in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. In most case the clashes are rooted to the increased political and economic autonomy of Dalit groups and the resentment of the thevars against it.  There have been many incidents of clashes. One can be the unrest provoked by the announcement of a new transport corporation (VSCTC) in Virudhunagar district in the name of a Pallar community member. This happened in late April 1997. There had been provoking  remarks from the thevar community regarding the incidents like “How do you expect us to travel in a bus named after a Dalit? It is a personal affront to our manhood.”(Ref. A. S. Panneerselvan, “On the Violence Threshold,” Outlook, May 21, 1997). And following the incident a  dalit leade,Dr Krishnaswamy was arrested being accused for his inflammatory speeches. These  kind of clashes are a social crisis. It’s a well known fact among them that there have been no cordial relationship between the two groups. The first reported caste riot in the state was the Mudakalathur riot of 1957 and the rift between the two groups have been widening since then.

If you look at the links between the thevar community and the state agents they had many influential state agents among them. J. Jayalalitha, the leader of AIADMK is considered as a strong supporter of Thevars and with her help The thevar community were able to extend their power base. One of the most active Thevar organizations  the Thevar Peravai (Thevar Front), was until early 1998 led by retired Director General of Police (DGP) Pon Paramaguru and even his successor was the general  secretary of a political party launched by the All India Thevar Peravai in 1998. During his tenure as DGP he recruited many thevars in to the police force.  And there have been many incidents of violent police raids in Dalit villages resulting in bloodshed  between the two groups.

One of the reasons  for a recent shift in the scenario  may be attributed to the increasing  economic stability of the Pallars. Like in many rural areas Dalits in these villages too were agricultural labourers. But by the 1990’s some of them were able to own and farm their own lands. They started looking for employment elsewhere. A research by the Madras Institute of Development Studies attributes this change in colour of the economic picture to two factors. First is the policy of reservation. Free education has provided the Dalits with more opportunities and helped them to come of the land based occupations. Second is attributed to more employment opportunities in the gulf countries and money from this have helped them to acquire lands of their own.  This has more affected none other than the thevars  who are themselves not advanced in terms of education.  The unhappy Thevars reverted to caste mobilizations to combat this change. But the Dalits themselves realized the importance of political mobilization to come out of their grim situation. For the first time Pallars replied to their traditional mistreatment by contesting in elections.

The case of Melavalavu massacre

It is right that reservation has helped some people but at  the same time it had been the cause of some serious incidents, which is the case of Melavalavu murders. Melavalavu is a village in the Madurai district. It was declared a reserved constituency in September 1996. This meant Melavalavu panchayat, comprising of eight villages with 1,000Dalit families, would have seats reserved for the scheduled castes.

The elections which were scheduled to be held in October 1996 were cancelled due to withdrawal of candidacy by the Dalit nominees for the fear of “economic sanctions” against the whole scheduled caste electorate. Several incidents of booth capturing led to the cancellation of the election when the polling happened in February 2007. The third round of elections was won by Murugesan , a Dalit, even though the majority voters were Thevars. Thevars constrained by the reservation law were unable to do anything.

After the elections Murugesan was not allowed to enter his office by the Thevars. After winning the presidency Murugesan got many letters threatening to kill him. On June 30 1997, returning from a visit to the collectors office, Murugesan  and five other Dalits were brutally killed by a gang of Thevars, as reported by the eye witnesses.

The brutal murders of Melavalavu is an attack on the prestigious panchayati raj system. It is a clear case of the fear of loss of power by the upper caste people. Their hitherto enjoyment and exploitation of various resources was threatened by the idea of reservation. Reservation made them helpless in the elections (even though they were a majority) where Dalits came into power.

 

Melavalavu: An unending story

 

In august 2012 the Melavalavu panchayat chief, Vijaraghavan, belonging to the dominant non-dalit community was stabbed. The accused was identified as Vimal Raj (30), son of former president of the panchayat, Murugesan.

 

 

 

 http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india/India994-07.htm